Finally, brothers, we earnestly ask and exhort
you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct
yourselves to please God - and as you are conducting yourselves - you do so
even more.

2 This is the will of God, your holiness: that
you refrain from immorality,

4

that each of you know how to acquire a wife for
himself in holiness and honor,

5

not in lustful passion as do the Gentiles who
do not know God;

6

not to take advantage of or exploit a brother
in this matter, for the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you
before and solemnly affirmed.

7

For God did not call us to impurity but to
holiness.

8

Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards
not a human being but God, who (also) gives his holy Spirit to you.

9

On the subject of mutual charity you have no
need for anyone to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to
love one another.

10

Indeed, you do this for all the brothers
throughout Macedonia. Nevertheless we urge you, brothers, to progress even
more,

11

and to aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind
your own affairs, and to work with your (own) hands, as we instructed you,

12

that you may conduct yourselves properly toward
outsiders and not depend on anyone.

13

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers,
about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest,
who have no hope.

14

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so
too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

15

Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the
Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3
will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16

For the Lord himself, with a word of command,
with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from
heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be
caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

18

Therefore, console one another with these
words.

1 [2] Instructions: these include
specific guidelines on the basis of the Lord's authority, not necessarily
sayings Jesus actually uttered. More profoundly, as ⇒ 1 Thes
4:8 implies, the instructions are practical principles that Paul
worked out in accordance with his understanding of the role of the Spirit.

2 [3-8] Many think that this passage
deals with a variety of moral regulations (fornication, adultery, sharp
business practices). It can be more specifically interpreted as bringing
general norms to bear on a specific problem, namely, marriage within degrees of
consanguinity (as between uncle and niece) forbidden in Jewish law but allowed
according to a Greek heiress law, which would insure retention of an
inheritance within the family and perhaps thereby occasion divorce. In that
case, "immorality" (⇒ 1 Thes 4:3) should
be rendered as "unlawful marriage" and "this matter"
(⇒ 1 Thes 4:6) as "a lawsuit." The phrase
in ⇒ 1 Thes 4:4, "acquire a wife for
himself," has often been interpreted to mean "control one's
body."

3 [15] Coming of the Lord: Paul here
assumes that the second coming, or parousia, will occur within his own lifetime
but insists that the time or season is unknown (⇒ 1 Thes
5:1-2). Nevertheless, the most important aspect of the parousia for
him was the fulfillment of union with Christ. His pastoral exhortation focuses
first on hope for the departed faithful, then (⇒ 1 Thes
5:1-3) on the need of preparedness for those who have to achieve
their goal.

4 [17] Will be caught up together:
literally, snatched up, carried off; cf ⇒ 2 Cor
12:2; ⇒ Rev 12:5. From the Latin verb here
used, rapiemur, has come the idea of "the rapture," when believers
will be transported away from the woes of the world; this construction combines
this verse with ⇒ Matthew 24:40-41 (see the note
there) // ⇒ Luke 17:34-35 and passages from
Revelation in a scheme of millennial dispensationalism.